Marching Calhoun on Main: Portrait of John C. Calhoun escorted through downtown Anderson

Members of the T.L. Hanna High School Junior ROTC carry a portrait of John C. Calhoun on Wednesday into the lobby of The Calhoun Historic Lofts in downtown Anderson. The portrait will be unveiled Friday at The Calhoun’s grand opening.

T.L Hanna High School Junior ROTC members march a larger-than-life-size portrait of John C. Calhoun down Main Street in Anderson to The Calhoun Historic Lofts. The painting, one of only four of Mr. Calhoun, was restored in Atlanta and returned to the lobby of The Calhoun after its trip down Main Street.

ANDERSON - Stopped traffic. A line of drummers. Young men and women gathered around a large portrait of John C. Calhoun.

For those who were in downtown Anderson around noon Wednesday, that was what they saw. Likely a first time for Anderson, the T.L Hanna High School Junior ROTC marched a larger-than-life-size painting of the South Carolina statesman along Main Street to The Calhoun Historic Lofts.

The T.L. Hanna Band's drum line provided the music, while the city of Anderson Police Department helped with traffic control and bordered the escort.

All the ceremony was meant to mark the upcoming opening of The Calhoun and the portrait's return to the former hotel after being cleaned and restored in Atlanta.

Owned by the Daughters of the Confederacy, the portrait was painted for the United States centennial in 1876, when every state commissioned portraits of its prominent figures. The artist is unknown, and the work is one of only four paintings of Mr. Calhoun in existence.

Frederick Brooks, who also handles pieces for the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, spent three months restoring the portrait of Mr. Calhoun, said interior designer, Bill Ducworth of Ducworth & Co. in Anderson. Mr. Ducworth is designing the public spaces inside The Calhoun.

"It was so black you could hardly see his face," Mr. Ducworth said about the piece. "It literally came back to life in Atlanta."

On Saturday, The Calhoun will be open to the public for the first time since it was closed in March 2006 to undergo renovations.

So far, seven of the 41 condominiums in the historic building have been sold, said Clay Johnson with Lifestyle Homes of Distinction of Asheville, which owns The Calhoun.

Two of those units — both on the building's top floor — will be completed by Friday. The lobby, where portions of the Hollywood movie, "Leatherheads," was filmed, will be open as well, Mr. Johnson said.

And looking down from one of those walls will be that larger-than-life portrait of Mr. Calhoun.